Rule of Rose: The Novelisation
by Red Crayon Embassy
Summary: A viscous hierarchy, cruel children, and secrets swept under every bed. Covering the disputed story of Jennifer with a few variations and less aspects of horror than the game. Mature themes of child abuse, abortion, and bullying.


Screaming? Floating? She wasn't quite sure. Jennifer knew she was being hugged tightly, that was all. Her mother and father had her arms draped around her and sweet whisperings shot through them as the other passengers frantically ran or yelled or tried to find a way out. It was an odd sensation, because on the one hand she was like a dropped stone, falling through the air at alarming speed, but on the other hand the sensation of falling made her feel like she could be underwater- ignored, like water ignored you, only able to swim groggily because she couldn't properly swim yet. Whenever she went into water she couldn't open her eyes because they stung. It was the same in the dropped ship- she had barely realised she was crying when the tears begun to cascade. She tried to stop them because neither parent let water show how they were feeling, but her mother sobbed too whilst her father clenched his mouth shut. His jaw ached from it. Her parents shared a kiss; to Jennifer they gave one on each cheek. "Hush now my sweet." reassured her mother as soothingly as she could within the chaos "we will all reach home safety, and we'll have a jolly time. I'm certain they'll fix the airship."

"They can't."

Jennifer covered her mouth when she said it. Her mother let out another small cry as her hand tightened its grip on Jennifer's. She shouldn't have said it. She shouldn't have said it. Jen burrowed into her father's coat, soft from the dark fabric but with a sickly smell of sweat and must. He kept his pipe in his inside pocket, which was probably where the musty scent was coming from. She was surprised he wasn't smoking it now, when the going got tough he always sat in study and took a long breath. Perhaps he didn't here because there wasn't a study nearby. Her father was shaking his head, a gentle hand patting her soft blonde hair. "I don't think they can either, my darlings." He agreed resignedly. He kissed his wife again and the three knelt in silence.

At first the situation seemed displaced with her, it didn't entirely register. Airships were difficult to build- she knew that- and she understood it was a great feat to fix a broken ship in mid-air, it didn't quite occur to her that it was impossible. She hadn't really thought about it so much, her parents had been too busy murmuring things to her like little girls in class. Well, if little girls spent their time weeping and whispering _I love you _and _Hush hush little one. _

The female voice that boomed from the rafters- when she first heard it she thought it was the voice of god, even though they called him 'he'- had spoken when they boarded. Jennifer's parents laughed and said it _was_ god, joining them on the flight to guard us back from India. India had been wonderful, she remembered. Hotter, different, with more little creatures to nip at you, not that any had. The voice didn't say things that were very much like a god though; they said _Thank you for joining us on our flight. We will be taking off in a short while. Please take all large luggage to section 8 of the freight storage department. Thank you. _And Jennifer remarked it was very helpful that god knew where to put the luggage and told everyone. She said 'thank you god' and some had overheard and laughed.

But then it had broken out again on the journey back with _Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you we are suffering from poor forecast, please wait in an orderly fashion. _And they meant nothing because it involved the words 'wait' and 'orderly' which were very boring, but she noticed more agitation among the other passengers. Someone requested to a staff remember that they know more about the weather but they were denied. An old man on a chair next to a young lady started chatting about the weather in Cardington and how sunny it had been on the maiden voyage. The lady agreed and started talking about setting a course for London, which made Jennifer want to say 'That's where I live!' but she didn't because she was a stranger and then she'd have to talk about the weather too which was boring and predictable.

Someone mumbled 'engine problems' and another argued 'pressure' but those words meant nothing as she held mother's hand.

Then the ship dived.

They ran to meet father, who had been waiting for them in the very room they were in now. A collection of people came in, looking for relatives, a place to sit, all tense and faces like the monsters in her picture books. Not because they were ugly by nature, but because people were very ugly when they were crying and scared. They lurched as furniture came crashing down, steadier than the dive but still flying wonky. You could tell something was wrong. The family hugged and Jennifer distinctly remembered thinking _Are we going to crash? _But she kept it to herself. Maybe the pilot was just playing a game. But when it did it again someone screeched "We're all going to die!" and she knew it was no game. All hell had broken lose then.

One man with a little moustache declared that he was going to jump out of the airship, and he fought his way to the windows before other people restrained him. A lady with ears like a dormouse squeaked angrily "The windows will kill us if the airship doesn't!" and then the moustached man had hit her and the others hit him back and they scattered, the man running out of the room pursued by his new guards. She knew a song about a king who was given guards and found they were actually guarding him. She couldn't remember all of the words but it went _Old king Carde had many guards and used them to his whims, but when they turned he realised the guards were guarding him. _

She sang the song under her breath as the ship began to dive again, and they waited for it to hoist itself momentarily upwards, but it didn't. Her breaths became ragged, the words indecipherable in the noise and clatter, but she didn't get through the last verse before her own scream erupted. There was a crash as the walls tore and a fire spread, the flames making a _whoosh _as they engulfed.. A gigantic _BOOM _was heard as the ground came to meet them. They were thrown awry, Jennifer tried to correct herself but her leg shot pains through her when she tried to move. More distant cries were heard. She winced as she dragged herself to her parents. Her mother's eyes were closed and her father was lying face-down. How many people were strewn around them?

"Mummy?" she called to the corpse. It didn't answer. She picked up her father, only to find his face bloodied. Why was it bloodied? A dent in his face had been made, like when she once put a knife through a tin of prunes and they had come oozing. No, not like that. Prunes could not be mistaken for blood. If that was the case, maybe he wasn't damaged. "Daddy?" she called.

There came no reply. Around her were the remnants of the R101 flight, along with the discarded remains of its passengers.

The ship had landed.


End file.
